1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bubble making and more particularly to a machine for making soap bubbles that are dispersed in a generally vertical manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bubbles made of a solution of water and soap or detergent are well known in the art, as are means by which bubbles can be produced.
Many people are familiar with the standard child""s toy of a bottle of bubble solution having a bubble wand inside. A screw top lid generally keeps the wand and solution closed in the bottle, and when the child or the person wants to blow bubbles, the lid is unscrewed, the wand is removed, and the person""s breath is blown through the ring, or loop, formed by the bubble wand. The bubble solution membrane adhering to the teeth of the toothed ring circumscribing the bubble wand is then stretched with the blowing breath and forms bubbles that fly away from the bubble wand. Generally, a membrane is formed across the bubble ring of the bubble wand when it is extracted from the bubble solution. If this is not so, bubbles do not form and the wand must be dipped again into the bubble solution. With practice, bubbles of several sizes may be blown from the bubble wand. The wand itself generally has a handle so that the ring may be dipped in the bubble solution without getting additional soap on the child""s fingers.
Other bubble making devices are generally variations on this theme where a vertically-disposed bubble ring is supplied with bubble solution, a serrated or toothed extension extends from the bubble ring to provide additional surface area, and the initial membrane formed across the bubble ring serves as the source for bubbles when air is blown through the ring. The bubbles are generally blown horizontally from a vertically-disposed bubble ring.
This is generally the basis for a variety of devices, including a pumpkin bubble blower, Item No. 35917 of the 2001 Johnson Smith catalog where a vertical ring of several such bubble rings is rotated through a reservoir of bubble solution. A squirrel cage or other type of fan then blows air through individual rings as they travel above the reservoir and past the fan. The limited amount of soap that each of the rings can hold is then exhausted and the ring is returned into the reservoir by circular rotation. The fan is then focused upon the next bubble ring and proceeds to blow bubbles from it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,218 issued to Tao and assigned to Cap Toys, Inc. for a Bubble Apparatus and Method issued Mar. 9, 1999, has a bubble making apparatus for producing bubbles from a gun like device. Bubbles are expelled from one aperture while an additional air blowing aperture serves to disperse the bubbles away from the opening to the bubble aperture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,141 issued to D""Andrade on Aug. 16, 1988, for a Toy Bubble Blowing Machine has a housing that may simulate a motor and may be mounted on a rideable toy such as a bicycle or automobile. A bubble wand with a plurality of wand heads share a central hub, and a Geneva mechanism is used to sequentially rotate each of the wand heads through bubble solution and forced air in sequence.
Other machines and devices are known in the art. Many of these blow bubbles in a horizontal, and not a vertical, direction. Blowing bubbles in a vertical direction is generally not possible with these systems, as the bubble heads must be rotated through a horizontal reservoir of bubble solution and consequently must be orthogonal, or at a right angle, to such bubble solution. Tilting the machine as a whole into an upright direction would generally spill the bubble solution out of the reservoir, thereby eliminating the source of bubble solution for future bubbles from the bubble machine.
Consequently, it would be an advance in the art to provide means by which bubbles could continuously be produced and blown vertically from an on-going bubble machine. Such a device would preferably be easy to use, easy to clean, and very reliable in that it would only function if properly assembled and would cease to function if tipped over.
The present invention as set forth herein solves many of the problems present in the prior art, as well as providing additional advantages and benefits that have heretofore not been seen.
The present invention provides a machine for making soap bubbles that are dispensed and dispersed in a generally vertical manner. This is in distinction to prior art devices, which generally dispense their bubbles in a horizontal fashion.
A fan is used to blow air upwardly through a housing, which is generally closed by two flaps when air is not blown by the fan. The flaps enjoy hinged attachment with the top of the housing and are generally flush with that top. The flaps are generally light in nature so that they may be forced open by the fan-blown air. The flaps generally fit within the inner perimeter of the housing end and each has membrane-forming rings at one end. These rings engage bubble-making rings that have circumscribing toothed rings acting as bubble stabilizers.
In order to initially form a membrane across the bubble ring, the membrane-forming rings come into contact with the bubble rings and the bubble solution held in a bubble ring channel associated with the bubble rings. When withdrawn from a bubble ring, the membrane-forming ring takes bubble solution with it causing a bubble solution membrane to form over the bubble ring. The membrane formed across the bubble ring is then subject to the air blown by the fan, which has sufficient force or pressure to blow bubbles from the bubble rings.
The flaps extend upwardly from the housing and direct the blown air and the bubbles away from the bubble-making machine. While the bubble rings are continuously supplied with bubble solution from a central reservoir, the membrane sometimes ruptures and the creation of bubbles ceases, even though there is bubble solution in the bubble ring channel and air is blowing from the fan. In order to continually create a membrane across the bubble rings, the fan is intermittently turned off so that the flaps may descend towards the housing and the membrane forming rings may engage the bubble solution in the bubble ring channel. The fan then starts to blow, lifting the flaps and the membrane-forming rings, forming a membrane across the bubble ring, and creates additional bubbles.
The housing may be connected to a fan framework by a bayonet connection, and four xe2x80x9cAAxe2x80x9d batteries may power an intermittent timing circuit to control the intermittent operation of the fan. A standard bubble solution container often purchased at toy stores and elsewhere is fitted with a special self-closing lid that fits over a float cage to allow flow of the bubble solution into the reservoir. Vacuum pressure, much in the same way as a water dispenser, keeps the bubble solution in the bottle. The presence of bubble solution in the reservoir causes a magnetic float to lift from the bottom of the reservoir. The floating of the magnetic float closes a switch in the intermittent circuit enabling the fan to turn on. Additional switches in the intermittent circuit allow coupling of the circuit to the housing so that the proper attachment of the housing to the fan""s framework is detected by the intermittent circuit. Finally, a tip-over switch is present in the intermittent circuit which when open (indicating a tip-over condition) ceases operation of the fan.
In this manner, a bubble machine dispensing bubbles in a vertical manner may be manufactured and produced in a cost-efficient, highly useful, and very efficient manner. Additionally, the enjoyment and/or merriment that can be elicited by the accompaniment of bubbles is better provided, and individuals or circumstances complemented by such activity are more easily achieved.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bubble machine.
It is yet another object to provide a bubble machine that creates and dispenses bubbles in a vertical manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bubble machine that can continually create bubbles, although a membrane is temporarily absent from a bubble ring.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a continual supply of bubble solution to bubble rings creating vertically-dispersed bubbles with reduced leakage.
It is yet another object of the present invention to create a bubble machine that is easily cleaned.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bubble machine that requires little monitoring during operation.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a review of the following specification and accompanying drawings.